The other day I was asked why I feel that religion has to be exclusive of anything else. At the time I half-replied and sort of left it where it was; after all, people do define religion differently and apply it customarily in their lives and I won’t try to portray deep thoughts in 140-character tweets because I’m much longer winded than that, as you all know. But it keeps popping in my mind: Why DO I feel that religious content should be exclusive of anything else? Hmmm…
Let’s ponder that for a moment. How many times have you heard someone say something to the effect of, “Christians are the most judgmental people; they point their fingers at sin and then the whole time they are doing things that go against the same Bible that they’re supposed to live by.” ?? I’ve heard it plenty of times. As a matter of fact, I’ve even said it myself a few times. Some people feel that since all people are sinners and no one is perfect, it shouldn’t matter what Christians do because they are, after all, human.
But Christians are a representation of what Christ can do in someone’s life. We are the testimony of the power of the Holy Spirit’s conviction in our hearts. Our lives are to be a walking reminder of the joy that can only come from the Lord. So, as such, Christians are held to a higher spiritual standard. Why? Because Christians know the truth. Knowing the truth should have an effect on our actions, thoughts, and behaviors. Knowing what God’s Word tells us is supposed to mean that we show restraint from doing evil and partaking in ways of the world or involving ourselves in matters that willfully and obviously go against our Creator’s commands.
Social media has become like second nature to most of us. Everyone is on either Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter, Myspace, blogs, etc… or a combination of them. Email, text messaging, picture messaging, and social media updates make every one of our voices louder, give us a larger audience, and make our lives more open. That can be a good thing, but is often not… because for some reason digital communication tends to lessen the inhibitions people normally have when directly interacting with another person. I often see a Scripture or some other mention acknowledging God come through my Facebook/Twitter feed and then directly after, a half naked/sexually suggestive photo or a status update that essentially denounces God as the head of their lives (whatever you give the most attention to in your life is what you worship). Somehow we’ve developed a condition of excusing away inappropriate behavior and/or disassociating your personal life (human nature) from your spiritual life (religious nature).
We all have different views and we will always fall short of the glory of the Lord… but let’s remind ourselves that if we are going to call ourselves being a part of the body of Christ, we need to be working with the flow of things and not against it. If you’re going to be claiming His name and calling yourself a Christ follower, keep in mind that you cannot be following someone if you’re walking in the opposite direction. True enough, most of us sway to the left or right at times; heck, I’ve ended up in the ditch a time or two *or ten* but being characteristically imperfect and being completely the opposite of anything we can describe as Holy are two different things entirely.
When claiming to walk with Christ,
there should at least be an obvious attempt at following His lead.
It annoys me when every time I say something about an action being against the Christian faith, someone has to chime in and tell me I’m being judgmental… I’m sorry, but it is my perspective that most people these days have turned the Bible around and started using it to justify ways that are not at all of God. We get offended when we are rebuked or corrected and we’re always ready to say, “Let he without sin cast the first stone” (John 8:7) or “judge not lest ye be judged” (Matthew 7:1) but none of us want to acknowledge the Scripture that tells us “he who hates correction is stupid.” (Proverbs 12:1) Correcting a person or reminding them that their actions are unbecoming of a Christian is not making a judgment – it’s stating a fact and calling into the open what should already be obvious to someone who knows God’s Word.
When Jesus said let those without sin cast the first stone, the people were condemning this woman who had been charged with adultery to death by stoning. They were not trying to correct her; they were not speaking out against the sin; they were not only calling out the action and trying to get her to see the evil in her ways. They wanted to make her pay for it — with her life. Jesus told them if they felt that strongly about her sin, fine. Stone her to death if you must. BUT the condemning judgment must be started with someone who is pure and perfect themselves. Why? Because it was not this woman’s place to die for her sins — it was HIS place. It was not these people’s place to condemn her to death — it was God’s. There is a huge difference between simply calling someone out for their sins and condemning them to hell because of them. It is not only our right but our obligation to look out for the spiritual welfare of our brothers and sisters. We are not just compelled to correct our brothers and sisters in Christ — we are COMMANDED by God to do so in order to get them to see the truth! If they do not listen, we are instructed to treat them as a pagan. (Matt 18:15)
Religious content should be exclusive of things that are not of the God that we claim to serve. It’s not about the occasional mistake which everyone will make… it’s about the lifestyle we lead on a daily basis. Either it suggests that you value your spiritual life, or it reveals that you nurture the corruption of the world… It’s a constant battle that we fight within ourselves, not always doing the right thing even when we intend to. Applying Christian principles to our lives is a struggle that gets more difficult each day because the integrity of the world around us deteriorates more and more with time but it’s a conscious choice that you make whether you want to impress man or please God. What does your life say about the choice you made?
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